This invention relates to a process for producing chocolate or a chocolate-like product and to the chocolate or chocolate-like product thereby produced.
Many processes are known for producing chocolate and chocolate-like products. Chocolate-like products are materials in which at least a part of the cocoa butter in chocolate is replaced by another fat, such as butterfat or a vegetable fat such as a cocoa butter equivalent (CBE). Processes for producing chocolate and chocolate-like products typically involve dispersing finely ground powders in a fat phase. The finely ground powders may include, for example, cocoa solids, sugar and optionally milk solids. The ingredients that are used are dictated by the nature of the product. Plain chocolate contains cocoa solids but generally does not contain non-fat milk solids, whereas milk chocolate does contain non-fat milk solids and milk fat as additional ingredients. White chocolate is prepared without the addition of cocoa mass or cocoa powder. The fat used to produce the chocolate is typically cocoa butter, optionally at least partly replaced by another fat in chocolate-like products.
In the traditional method for producing chocolate and chocolate-like products, the ingredients are mixed and ground in a refiner or mill to reduce the particle size of the solids. The resulting paste is then conched. Conching is a flavour-developing step which involves the intimate mixing or kneading of the chocolate ingredients and is traditionally carried out at elevated temperatures. During conching, the flavour of the product develops and the desired viscosity is obtained. Typically, the free acid and water content of the chocolate are reduced during conching. Conching is a time-consuming step in the process and typically takes from a few hours to a few days, depending on the product and the equipment used. After conching, the product may be cooled and optionally tempered.
Conching is generally regarded as an essential step in the process in order to develop the flavour and lower the viscosity of the product. However, because it involves maintaining the product at an elevated temperature for a relatively long time, it is energy intensive.
A method and device for producing chocolate with a shortened conching time, or with no conching step, is described in WO 2004/000028. The device uses a premixer which delivers chocolate flakes to a gear pump. The gear pump extrudes the product through small holes in a die plate and the resulting mixture is passed to a pin mixer for homogenization.
Niediek, Süsswaren, 3, 1971, 91-96 discloses a process for making milk chocolate. Reudenbach, Kakao+Zucker, 10, 1973, 459-464 describes a process for producing a milk chocolate.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,679,498 describes an extrusion process for preparing a chocolate paste.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,945,150 discloses a process for manufacturing chocolate in which a paste is milled and conched before being transferred to a high shear mixer for final liquefaction of the chocolate paste.
EP-A-1358804 relates to a process for preparing a milk-containing chocolate wherein the milk particles are not refined or are separately refined and added at the conching stage.
DE-A-3735087 describes the manufacture of milk chocolate by mixing dark and light-coloured chocolates.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,221,422 and EP-A-1733625 are other examples of documents that describe the production of chocolate.
There remains a need for processes for making chocolate that can reduce conching times. There is also a need to increase the capacity and/or speed of manufacture of the chocolate making process. In particular, there is a need to optimise the use and/or capacity of existing equipment, such as five roller refiners.